A Super Comeback Falls Short

The Jets Can't Overcome a 24-0 Deficit Despite a Furious Rally in Second Half as the Steelers Prevail

By

Scott Cacciola

Updated Jan. 24, 2011 12:01 a.m. ET

Steelers 24, Jets 19

PITTSBURGH—The Jets arrived here for their second straight appearance in the AFC Championship Game undaunted by their history of postseason futility and unapologetic about their brash behavior. Following the lead of their head coach, who trafficked in bombast the way Renoir used paint, the Jets were a team that expressed no qualms and acknowledged no fears, racing headlong toward their long-stated goal: Super Bowl or bust.

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The Steelers' Rashard Mendenhall burst through the arm-tackles of Eric Smith (33) and Darrelle Revis (24) of the Jets in the first half of Sunday's AFC title game in Pittsburgh.
Getty Images

On Sunday night at Heinz Field, things went bust. The Jets' dream season, some five months in the making, came to abrupt end as the Steelers secured the AFC title with a 24-19 victory before an announced crowd of 66,662 black-and-gold, towel-waving fanatics.

The Steelers (14-5) won despite giving up 19 unanswered points to the Jets (13-6), whose second-half comeback fell one possession shy. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger sealed the game for the Steelers with a 14-yard completion on third-and-6, then took three knees to let time run out on the Jets' season. Pittsburgh will face the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XLV on Feb. 6.

After laboring early, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (20 of 33, 233 yards, two touchdowns) showed some life in the second half. He connected with Santonio Holmes on a 45-yard touchdown reception early in the third quarter. Then there was a missed opportunity midway through the fourth, when the Steelers stuffed running back LaDainian Tomlinson short of the goal line on fourth down to preserve a 24-10 lead.

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But the Jets' defense, which had been as porous as cheesecloth in the first half, played with resolve, and linebacker Bryan Thomas sacked Mr. Roethlisberger for a safety. The Jets drove once more, time ticking away, Mr. Sanchez ultimately finding Jerricho Cotchery for a 4-yard touchdown catch that cut the Steelers' lead to 24-19 with 3 minutes, 6 seconds remaining.

The Jets needed one last defensive stop to give Mr. Sanchez and his offense another opportunity, but they failed to get it. Mr. Roethlisberger completed 10 of 19 passes for 133 yards, and he relied early and often on running back Rashard Mendenhall, who gained 95 of his 121 rushing yards in the first half.

"I don't think there's many teams that could've gone through what we went through and got here and almost pulled out another one," Mr. Ryan said. "Our goal for next year—I've got news for you. It won't change, and it'll never change. We're going to chase that Super Bowl, and we're going to chase it until we get it. And then we'll chase after it again."

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Jets coach Rex Ryan surveys the field from the sideline in Sunday's AFC Championship game.
European Pressphoto Agency

At the same time, Mr. Ryan credited the Steelers, for whom he has a great deal of respect. Pittsburgh established its familiar identity on the game's opening drive: tough, stoic, determined. The Steelers kept the ball on the ground and Mr. Sanchez on the sideline, letting him freeze as his defensive teammates whiffed on arm tackles, their sloppiness costing them.

The 15-play drive, which Mr. Mendenhall punctuated with a 1-yard touchdown run, consumed over 9 minutes and was aided in large part by an early penalty against Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who was flagged for illegal hands to the face after Mr. Roethlisberger threw an errant pass on third down. That gaffe kept the series alive, and the Steelers capitalized. It also served notice that the Jets were not particularly sharp.

"We couldn't get any early momentum," left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson said. "We finally got things going, but it was just too late."

The team had been feeding off emotion. On Saturday, more than 7,000 fans gathered at the team's practice facility in Florham Park, N.J., for a fancy send-off, the team's romp through the playoffs having swept its long-suffering fan base into a state of general euphoria.

The Jets had followed up a first-round victory over the Indianapolis Colts with an emphatic divisional-round triumph over the New England Patriots a week ago—both games on the road, both wins coming at the expense of future Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Mr. Roethlisberger, with two Super Bowl titles to his credit, intended to do what the Colts' Peyton Manning and the Patriots' Tom Brady could not: Beat the Jets, a team fueled by 42 years of frustration since the franchise's first and only championship.

Mr. Ryan anticipated a "triple chin-strap game" against the Steelers on frozen turf that felt more like concrete than sod. Mr. Sanchez took the field without long sleeves, which was bold. The temperature at kickoff was 17 degrees. He could never get going in the first half, completing just seven passes for 63 yards. The Jets rushed five times for one lonely yard.

The Steelers, meantime, raced to a 24-3 halftime lead behind Messrs. Roethlisberger and Mendenhall. A 2-yard scramble by Mr. Roethlisberger pushed the lead to 17-0. Then Pittsburgh's defense got involved, when cornerback William Gay recovered a fumble for a touchdown.

All season, the Jets had maintained that they were not the "Same Old Jets," a punchline for a franchise that had waded through four decades of mediocrity. The ghosts that lingered went by the names Rich Kotite and Doug Brien, the team's history framed by events like the fake spike and the personal foul, the latter costing the Jets a playoff victory against the Cleveland Browns in 1986.

Thirteen head coaches have come and gone since Super Bowl III, each unable to do what Mr. Ryan unabashedly set out to accomplish in just his second season. Now the wait continues.

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